Language variation has been a subject of huge research studies in the West. Sociolinguists say that within a society the differences in speech may occur because of the different ethnic or social background.

However, even within the same social class or ethnic group some differences in speech are found which may be the result of the factors such as the speakers’ age or sex. Exposure to the world outside the home makes a lot of difference and, historically, in our society women had been segregated. A separate portion of the house called ‘zanan khana’ (women’s quarters) was where a woman usually lived most of her life. If ever she left the house under strict veil, she would meet womenfolk only.

As a result, the parlance of women became quite different from what men spoke. The women from a specific social background spoke a different language as compared to the language used by the men of the same group. The features of women’s different way of speaking, or parlance, as the term goes, included not only pronunciation or intonation but also vocabulary. The scholars and lexicographers of Urdu have been very much aware of the language variation that took place because of the gender of the speakers and have compiled some dictionaries. Some of these lexicographic works explain the women’s parlance that included some of the secret vocabulary which, as put by Waheeda Naseem, men do not get even a whiff of.

Here is a brief intro to some of the dictionaries of Urdu that record and explain women’s version of the Urdu language:

• Lughaat-ul-khavaateen

This is the first-ever Urdu dictionary of women’s parlance and was compiled by Syed Amjad Ali Ashhari. First published in 1907, it included over 4,000 words and idioms used mostly by women. A new edition, revised by Muhammad Ahsan Khan, was published from Lahore in 2003.

• Lughaat-un-nisa

Syed Ahmed Dehlvi, the famous lexicographer who penned Farhang-i-Aasifiya, compiled and published ughaat-un-nisa in 1917 from Delhi. A large-size tome, it contained about 5,000 idioms and expressions peculiar to women. It was reprinted from Lahore in 1988.

• Muhavraat-i-nisvaan

Muneer Lukhnavi was a lexicographer who compiled a number of small and large dictionaries. His Muhavraat-i-nisvaan wa khas begamaat ki zaban is a slim volume published from Kanpur in 1930. It includes some rare and offensive expressions too. No second edition is yet reported.

• Muhavraat-i-nisvaan

Compiled by a Vazeer Begum Zia, this too was a large-size book listing Urdu idioms spoken by women. Its second edition was published from Lahore in 1943. The first edition is rare and hard to come by.

• Zaban-i-zanaan-i-Dehli

Reticent and publicity-shy, Shabbir Ali Kazmi was an erudite scholar and editor who wrote on linguistics and languages too. He published in July 1959 issue of ‘Urdu’, Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu’s journal, a work listing women’s idioms. Titled ‘Zaban-i-zanaan-i-Dehli’, it explained idioms spoken by the women of Delhi.

• Aurat aur Urdu zaban

First published partially in a literary journal in 1962 in Intikhab-i-nau, a literary magazine published from Karachi, and reproduced in India a few years later, Waheeda Naseem’s Aurat aur Urdu zaban not only listed some 3,000 expressions, idioms and proverbs favoured by the female speakers of Urdu but also included a detailed, 200-page commentary on the parlance of women, reasons for its emergence and its historical, linguistic, social and religious background. Its first Pakistani edition appeared in 1979 and was reproduced in 1993.

• Dilli ki begamaati zaban

It is not a dictionary in strict sense of the word, but Mohiuddin Hasan’s Dilli ki begamaati zaban is a research work as well as a word list. The author is son of Allama Hairat Badayuni and brother of Jeelani Bano, the famous fiction writer of Urdu. The book lists women’s peculiar vocabulary and explains it along with the linguistic, literary and social background. It explains with the words the superstitious beliefs of the women, rites and rituals, cultural phenomenon, rustic songs and proverbs. Published from Delhi in 1976, it has not been reproduced, either legally or illegally, in Pakistan.

• Dilli ki khavaateen ki kahavaten aur muhavre

Perhaps the most lacking work on the subject is Begum Shaista Suharwardy Ikramullah’s Dilli ki khavaateen ki kahavaten aur muhavre. It is divided in to two portions that purport to list idioms and proverbs. But both the sections contain idioms and proverbs. Interestingly, some of the entries are neither proverbs nor idioms but have been listed as such. First published in 2005, it has run into many reprints.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2018